1. Field of Art
The subject matter relates generally to providing media content services in a networked environment and, more particularly, to visualization of media content navigation with unified media devices controlling in a networked environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the emerging technologies is multimedia home networking. Multimedia home networking enables consumers to share audio, video, and data across multiple media devices (such as televisions, portable media players, cell phones, and computers) using a secure home network. Several media devices associated with playback of media content can be connected in a home network. Media content can be delivered to the home network via a variety of networks, such as wired and wireless networks and the Internet. Cable, satellite, optical network set-top boxes (STBs), television (TV) receivers, radio receivers, computers, and other content receivers or players can receive media content from various media content sources which are local or remote to the home network.
Remote sources include a media server connected to the World Wide Web, or a broadcast system supporting, for example, cable TV, satellite TV, digital TV, or other sources of audiovisual (AV) content. Local sources include DVD recorders and players, compact disc (CD) recorders and players, analog phonograph record players, analog VCRs, digital video recorders (DVRs), analog and digital camcorders, digital cameras, computers, MP3 players, and other storage devices that store media content for playback. Receivers or players can be coupled to plasma monitors, liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, analog TV monitors, digital picture frames, surround sound systems, speakers, and other playback devices to decode and play media content.
Some or all the above systems may be connected in a network environment, such as a home network. For example, in a home network, several TVs, DVD players or computers may be connected through a local network that receives media content delivered from a remote source. Controlling or scheduling the playback of content on different devices in the network can provide a challenge to an end user. Particularly, each device is implemented to be responsive to control signals generated by a specific control device which is generally provided by the manufacturer of that device. Thus, an end user may have to use several control devices (e.g., remote controls) to operate and use each receiver or player.
Searching of content in different remote or local sources in the network can provide another challenge to an end user. Particularly, some of the playback devices are very inconvenient for content search (e.g. an Internet content search on a TV screen), lacking a proper input device, while others are being used for content playback. Searching in parallel to content play and view disturbs and interrupts other end users. Thus, an end user may have to use several other devices (e.g., a desk top PC) to search for a specific content while juggling with several control devices for content display.
Currently existing solutions to the above described challenges are partial and limited. For example, the existing solutions require end users to partially operate multiple media devices in one control flow. An end user may define media services on a TV, starts a content search on a PC, moves the search result (e.g., a streaming video) to a set-up-box connected to the TV, and watches the streaming video on the TV. The limited control for multiple media devices for content search, content preview and content management is impossible, and in other cases inconvenient, because the user generally has to press several different buttons to control each device. Further, such control devices are not configurable to control the flow of content received by different receivers to different players in the network.
Hence, there is, inter alia, a lack of a system and method that efficiently visualizes media content navigation with unified media devices controlling in a networked environment.